Collection container for a heat exchanger and associated heat exchanger

Abstract

A collection container for a heat exchanger, in particular for a refrigerant condenser of a motor vehicle, the collection container having at least one inlet opening for a fluid, in particular refrigerant, and the collection container having at least one outlet opening for the fluid, in which in addition the outer jacket of the collection container limits a cross-sectional surface of the internal chamber in each of a number of cross-sections regarded perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the collection container, and in which the surface content of these cross-sectional surfaces of the internal chamber limited by the outer jacket has different sizes in at least two cross-sections situated at a distance from one another in the longitudinal direction of the collection container.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A collection container for a heat exchanger, the collection container comprising:
 at least one inlet opening for a fluid, in particular refrigerant; 
 at least one outlet opening for the fluid; and 
 a first pipe and a second pipe axially adjacent to said first pipe; and 
 a filter cartridge extending the length of said first pipe, 
 said first pipe including an outer jacket configured to limit a cross-sectional surface of an internal chamber in each of a number of cross-sections being perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the first pipe, wherein at least two of the cross-sections are progressively smaller in size in the longitudinal direction toward said second pipe and are situated at a distance from one another in the longitudinal direction. 
 
     
     
       2. The collection container as recited in  claim 1 , wherein a first contiguous area of the collection container extends in the longitudinal direction over at least 30 mm in which the cross-sectional surfaces of the internal chamber, limited by the outer jacket and situated perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, each have an essentially equally large cross-sectional surface, and a second contiguous area of the collection container differs from the first contiguous area and extends in the longitudinal direction over at least 30 mm and is situated perpendicular to the longitudinal direction each having an essentially equally large cross-sectional surface, the surface content of the cross-sectional surfaces in the first contiguous area being greater than the surface content of the cross-sectional surfaces in the second contiguous area. 
     
     
       3. The collection container as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the surface content of the larger of the cross-sectional surfaces of the internal chamber is at least twice as large as the surface content of the smaller of the cross-sectional surfaces of the internal chamber. 
     
     
       4. The collection container as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the outer jacket has one or more segments in the longitudinal direction in which the outer surface of the outer jacket is round or cylindrically shaped in the longitudinal direction, and along the overall length of the collection container, the outer jacket has at least two outer diameters that are different sizes. 
     
     
       5. The collection container as recited in  claim 4 , wherein the outer diameter of the outer jacket is essentially constant, and the outer diameter in the first contiguous area is larger than the outer diameter in the second contiguous area. 
     
     
       6. The collection container as recited in  claim 4 , wherein the larger of the outer diameters is longer than the smaller of the outer diameters by at least 10 millimeters or at least 30%. 
     
     
       7. The collection container as recited in  claim 6 , wherein the difference between the larger of the outer diameters and the smaller of the outer diameters is in a range between 15 mm and 40 mm. 
     
     
       8. The collection container as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the collection container is limited radially externally in at least one segment by a plurality of pipe-shaped parts that extend in the longitudinal direction and are situated at a distance from one another in the longitudinal direction, each having an essentially cylindrical inner surface, the inner diameter of at least one of these pipe-shaped parts being larger than the inner diameter of at least one other of these pipe-shaped parts. 
     
     
       9. The collection container as recited in  claim 8 , wherein a first contiguous area of the collection container extends in the longitudinal direction over at least 30 mm, in which the inner diameter of one of these pipe-shaped parts is essentially constant, and a second contiguous area of the collection container differs from the first contiguous area and extends in the longitudinal direction over at least 30 mm, in which the inner diameter of the other of these pipe-shaped parts is essentially constant, the inner diameter in the first contiguous area being larger than this inner diameter in the second contiguous area. 
     
     
       10. The collection container as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the larger of the inner diameters is longer than the smaller of the inner diameters by at least 10 mm or at least 30%. 
     
     
       11. The collection container as recited in  claim 1 , the collection container being outwardly radially limited by a plurality of pipe-shaped parts that extend in the longitudinal direction of the collection container and that are situated at a distance from one another in the longitudinal direction, at least one of these pipe-shaped parts being situated eccentrically relative to at least one other of these pipe-shaped parts. 
     
     
       12. The collection container as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the outer jacket is formed by a plurality of pipe-shaped parts. 
     
     
       13. The collection container as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the outlet opening is situated in one of: a first end area, a lower end area, and the jacket wall. 
     
     
       14. The collection container as recited in  claim 1 , wherein at least an area of the outerjacket wall the maximum outer dimension of the outer jacket is less than 25 mm. 
     
     
       15. The collection container as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising at least one of a dryer and a filter device. 
     
     
       16. The collection container as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising a detachable seal device is provided in the area of at least one of the second end and the upper end of the collection container, facing away from a first axial end of the collection container. 
     
     
       17. The collection container as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of pipes that succeed one another in the longitudinal direction in order to form an outer jacket of the collection container, said pipes being connected to one another in fluid-tight fashion, at least one of these pipes being partly covered by a wall segment in the frontal end area facing the other of these pipes, in particular in an area situated radially outside the other of these pipes. 
     
     
       18. The collection container as recited in  claim 17 , wherein the wall segment by means of which a frontal end area of a pipe is partly covered extends essentially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the collection container. 
     
     
       19. The collection container for a heat exchanger as recited in  claim 1 , the collection container having a plurality of pipes succeed one another in the longitudinal direction in order to form an outer jacket of the collection container, said pipes being connected to one another in particular in essentially fluid-tight fashion and in particular so as to form an outer jacket of the collection container, two such successive pipes being connected to one another in an area that, seen in the longitudinal direction of the collection container, is situated at a distance from both ends of the collection container that is at least 20% of the overall length of the collection container. 
     
     
       20. The collection container as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising two pipes, of which one is inserted with one of its two ends into an end of the other pipe. 
     
     
       21. The collection container as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising two pipes of which at least the first is closed at an end face by a sealing element or wall segment, said sealing element having an opening into which the second pipe debouches with one of its ends or end areas, so that a fluid connection of the internal chambers of these pipes is produced. 
     
     
       22. The collection container as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the sealing element or wall segment is a disk or a cover. 
     
     
       23. The collection container as recited in  claim 22 , wherein the disk is connected fixedly to a second pipe of the collection container, and is inserted into the first pipe and connected thereto by soldering. 
     
     
       24. The collection container as recited in  claim 23 , wherein one of the second pipe or the area of the second pipe protrude from the first pipe and forms a segment of the jacket of the collection container, and has a length between 50 mm and 300 mm. 
     
     
       25. A heat exchanger, in particular refrigerant condenser of a motor vehicle, characterized in that this heat exchanger has a collection container as recited in  claim 24 . 
     
     
       26. The heat exchanger as recited in  claim 25 , further comprising a pipe block or pipe/fin block having a multiplicity of pipes that are essentially parallel at least in segments, and possibly having fins situated between the pipes, the first ends being received by a first header, and the collection container being situated parallel to said first header, and the first header having at least two openings of which one is fluidically connected to the inlet opening of the collection container and one is fluidically connected to the outlet opening of the collection container, so that an overflow opening or overflow ducts are formed in order to enable a flow of fluid or refrigerant from the first header into the collection container and vice versa. 
     
     
       27. The heat exchanger as recited in  claim 26 , further comprising a second header that accepts the second ends of the pipes of the pipe block or pipe/fin block. 
     
     
       28. The heat exchanger as recited in  claim 26 , wherein the pipes, in particular all the pipes, of the pipe or pipe/fin block have a straight construction. 
     
     
       29. The heat exchanger as recited in  claim 25 , wherein the heat exchanger is a refrigerant condenser, and includes separating walls in the first header and in the second header that are situated such that the medium, in particular refrigerant, flows back and forth between the first and second headers through the pipes of the pipe/fin block multiple times. 
     
     
       30. The heat exchanger as recited in  claim 25 , having two headers that are fluidically connected, in particular connected in terms of refrigerant, via the pipes of a pipe/fin block, separating walls being situated in the headers in order to form separate chambers in each header, wherein the hot gas inlet and the sub-cooling path are situated immediately adjacent to one another. 
     
     
       31. The heat exchanger as recited in  claim 25 , having two headers that are fluidically connected, in particular in terms of refrigerant, via the pipes of a pipe/fin block, separating walls being situated in the headers in order to form separate chambers in each header, characterized in that the fluid or refrigerant from the inlet or hot gas inlet of the condenser first flows upward. 
     
     
       32. The heat exchanger as recited in  claim 31 , wherein the next-to-last flow path of the condenser is situated at the upper end of the condenser. 
     
     
       33. The heat exchanger as recited in  claim 31 , wherein the last flow path of the condenser is situated at the lower end of the condenser. 
     
     
       34. The heat exchanger as recited in  claim 33 , wherein after flowing through the next-to-last flow path, and before flowing through the last flow path, the fluid or refrigerant flows through the collection container.